The present invention is related to wood-splitting mechanisms and more particularly to such mechanisms that are mountable to the three point hitch members of typical wheel tractors.
Manual splitting of logs for firewood is a slow and very strenuous process. It has therefore become desirable to provide mechanical apparatus that will increase the speed and decrease the effort required to split logs into stove or fireplace size chunks of wood. Nearly all such mechanical arrangements include a frame, a movable wood support, a cutting edge in alignment with the support, and some form of powered apparatus for driving either the cutting edge toward the support or the support toward the cutting edge. The powered splitting mechanisms are typically large and cumbersome, some requiring separate suspension and wheel support. Although a mechanized splitting apparatus may be entirely effective for quickly and easily splitting wood, it is usually bulky and extremely expensive, both to purchase and to maintain. This is due primarily to the necessary integral power drive units incorporated within them.
The typical wheel tractor utilized on small estates and farms includes a rearward three point hitch arrangement, including a central upper hitch member and two lower pivoted members. The lower pivoted hitch members can be selectively moved about a common pivot axis by a "rockshaft" for the purpose of lifting or lowering attached implements. The upper central hitch member is stationary on the tractor frame. The lifting mechanism is usually a hydraulic cylinder connected to the rockshaft through a bell crank arrangement. Considerable upward force may be applied through the lift mechanism.
The conventional wheel tractor is often available for use in wood gathering and splitting operations. It therefore becomes desirable to obtain some form of simplified wood splitting apparatus that may be powered by the standard tractor three point hitch arrangement.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,675 to M. J. Bles, Sr. discloses a tractor carried log splitter, making use of the three point hitch arrangement for supporting a self powered log splitting arrangement. A hydraulic cylinder is supplied within the splitter frame and is operated by control mechanisms also on the frame for moving a splitting wedge toward and away from a log brace.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,567 to Arnold D. Dircksen et al discloses a tractor mounted log splitter including a framework mountable to a three point hitch mechanism of a tractor. This device also includes an integral cylinder arrangement for attachment to the tractor hydraulic system and operates to move a log into engagement with a splitting wedge. The three point hitch frame mechanism is provided merely to enable elevational adjustment of the entire splitting mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,985 granted to Yvon Gosselin discloses a hydraulic log splitter implement. Again, the splitter arrangement is mounted to the three point hitch mechanism of a tractor but includes a separate hydraulic cylinder arrangement for connection to the tractor hydraulics that pivots a wedge arrangement for splitting logs. The device is upright and includes height adjustment features that allow for adjustment to accommodate logs of various sizes. Again, the three point hitch arrangement is used primarily for the purpose of mounting the splitter to the tractor and for raising or lowering the entire splitter unit relative to the ground surface.
An alternate form of log splitting arrangement is illustrated by Guy in U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,779. Guy uses a frame arrangement that replaces a forkarm along the front of a front end loader. The device makes use of a loader operating cylinder for forcing a log against a splitting wedge. The device is mounted at a single pivot point at a forward end of a tractor and, by necessity, includes specific mounting arrangements adapted to position the loader cylinder in relation to the facing edge of the splitting wedge.
LaPointe, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,246 illustrates a variation of the Guy arrangement in providing an attachment for backhoe power equipment. Here, a bracket positions the backhoe bucket operating cylinder in relation to the outer boom arm end. An elaborate wood supportive framework is mounted to the outer boom arm end in an upright orientation with the arm and with a wood support surface situated directly below the piston for the cylinder. The piston can therefore be extended to move a log against a splitting wedge.
The front end loader and backhoe arm mounted splitting arrangements may be serviceable. However, the backhoe or bucket loader are not typically provided on the type of tractors that are frequently used for wood cutting and hauling purposes. In fact, if such attachments are provided, it is more convenient to dismount them from the tractor to allow increased maneuverability in wooded areas and to present better visibility for such maneuvering. In order to arrange the devices for operation, the front end loader or backhoe arrangement must first be mounted to the tractor. Then the bucket arrangement must be dismantled and the splitting arrangement remounted to the forwardly extending arms.
The problem remains, therefore, of obtaining some form of splitting apparatus that is easily mounted to and removable from the three point hitch arrangement of wheel tractors and that can rely entirely upon the three hitch hoisting provisions for operation.